


welcome to the motels

by allmywill



Category: Martha Davis (Musician), The Motels (Band)
Genre: Analysis, Gen, Music, New wave - Freeform, Nonfiction, personal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-22
Updated: 2020-10-22
Packaged: 2021-03-07 18:00:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26661838
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allmywill/pseuds/allmywill
Summary: An in depth analysis of the new wave band's debut albumMotels.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	welcome to the motels

**Author's Note:**

> something i've been wanting to do for a while, very self indulgent but it felt good to write. i love this band so much. listen to the album, listen to them! great music by great people.

Signed to Capitol records on Mother's Day in May 1979, the Motels began to record their debut album the same week. The album was completed early September and released on September 17, 1979. _Motels_ peaked at #175 on the Billboard album chart in the US and the single _Total Control_ did little in the singles chart, only charting at #109.

The album was a hit in Australia, with _Total Control_ reaching #7. It was certified gold down under in January 1980. All material on the album was written by lead singer Martha Davis, a single mother of two from Berkeley, California. Although struggling to make ends meet, she pursued her dream of making music anyway, often bringing the girls along to rehearsals and gigs.

Clocking in at 38 minutes and 13 seconds, the record touches on dark themes such as domestic violence, loneliness and alienation, the superficial, and the changes that time brings with age. This is an album I've heard a couple hundred times since my first listening back in November of last year. It's an important moment in the era of new wave; released around the transition from classic rock and roll to a more produced, polished sound via the use of synthesizers.

Martha writes in a very sensual manner and delivers her words in the same fashion. _Motels_ is a cohesive body of work, the lyrics flow like a novel. The name Sally is brought up in both _Love Don't Help_ and _Counting_ , which makes me wonder if the entire album is one big story. Other names mentioned include Polly, Sue, and _Celia_ , which is the album's seventh track. In my mind, they're a group of friends, all going through very different yet very similar struggles. 

The picky guitar chords of _Anticipating_ open the album. The title adheres to the song; it takes a moment for the full band to kick in. The lyrics seem to describe a bar/restaurant scene, the narrator and a friend sitting together, perhaps watching a man. The friend eventually gets up and some violence occurs: _Now evening in full swing, she's moving in darling. She goes down so hard, my head spins around._

Crazy way to start off, isn't it? Very new wave. Martha just _sat there and watched you_.

Distortion at the end of the song flows right into the next track, _Kix_. It has a similar vibe to a song Lou Reed did on his album _Coney Island Baby_ in 1976, but of course, this one packs far more of a punch. It's fast yet not too overbearing. This details a man who has everything: _all the big cars and the fancy garage_. He has everything he wants and needs and _he's so amused_. Is he really though? Perhaps this is the same man from _Anticipating_. Martha's pity for him whittles away.

The album grows mellow. _Total Control_ starts; a steady, though quiet, drum beat backs Martha's obvious disdain. This song was originally an aggressive punk song, turned into something like a ballad when guitarist Jeff Jourard stepped in to assist Martha with the track. You can hear a little bitterness in the lyrics, so it makes a lot of sense. The two chord progression is simple and packs a punch. This is not only my favorite Motels song, but my favorite song. It has been since the first time I heard it last year. It struck something within me and continues to, even after upwards of a thousand listens.

Written after a break up, it details Martha's emotional state. She's _always certain, any moment_ that it could be him. Maybe even him. She wants it desperately to be, even though she knows in her heart that it's not him. As someone in love with someone unattainable, that is a familiar ache I feel. _I'd sell my soul for total control over you_ : Martha wants him, she feels powerless that she cannot have him. She would do anything to have that control. Anything at all.

The sax solo smack in the middle of the song makes it even more pungent with emotion. It's all around a fantastic piece of music and it fits in with the mood of the album, detailing the feelings one can have towards someone after a breakup or communication gone wrong.

A short upbeat number follows, _Love Don't Help_. It has a different kind of simplicity to it. The message is this: love's not gonna save you. This is also where the names come into play. I imagine these girls on a night out, talking about their failed love affairs. _Love don't help you win at the track._

More two chord bliss, then a gently soaring synth in the background. That's what the beginning of _Closets & Bullets_ sounds like. Martha knows that change can really hurt and she knows it well. And the loneliness that can come with that change is awfully heavy, in her case. Here, they are moving on, and on her end of things, she's reluctant to move. _You go on and I'll stay behind_.

The whole track is one of desperation and unease, fear of the unknown to come, and the yearning for what once was. _Coulda sworn I saw you on the street yesterday. And I envied you, and those big sad eyes._ Then later, she admits that envying the protagonist was her first mistake. She's made a lot of them and she's letting them tear her apart.

 _Changes come like bullets, shock but no pain._ Sometimes it's easier for it to hurt than to be numb. _Closets & Bullets_ says that without really saying it, just dancing around it, for fear of the pain and yet the desperate yearning for it. Easily a favorite of mine, I strongly connect with it.

Fitting in with the nighttime bar scene vibe of the album, _Atomic Cafe_ is another anthem about loneliness. It's dirty and gritty, and of course, lonesome. _All the love turns to luck, and you'll be down on your knees, crawling through the streets, caked with perfume and perfection._ This song is all about guitar, a massive solo to break it up in the middle. There's a sense of self destruction here, a feeling so low that it has the narrator in the streets, perhaps begging for love. _The lonely ain't so free_ , croons Martha, as the sax carries the music to the next track.

The thumping bass of _Celia_ is iconic, making the track a Motels classic without it ever being released as a single. Celia may have made mistakes, but certainly she didn't deserve such treatment. _You took the man's heart and then you broke it._ Even so, this doesn't warrant the violence she seems to be facing head on. _He wasn't gonna kill you, he was just gonna fuck up your pretty face._ In many interviews, Martha has said this was inspired by something her ex husband said about her. That's very heavy and explains why she sings that line with such aggression.

Martha urges Celia to _take the next train outta town_ , because _the man is mad, he's mad as hell and he's got a gun_. This man Celia is involved with is violent and unstable and Martha only wishes for her safety.

Another bass oriented track, _Porn Reggae_ is next. By far the filthiest Motels song out there, this one describes a kinky porn scene that's so very 70's. _Enter man silver and bronze, he walks in the room, lady looks upon him._ It continues to describe the scene, perhaps a video the narrator is watching alone. But there's a book involved too, so this could easily be someone who's addicted to porn.

The keyboards shine in this one, and the Reggae inspired guitar is very obviously inspiration for the title. The sex mentioned throughout the song is rough, with slapping, pushing, and shoving involved. This girl wants what's in the content she's consuming. _Little girl sits behind her desk with bleary eyes and dreams of dirty sex, while she bites her nails._

 _Dressing Up_ is all about flashy suits and the pretty things, fancy cars and shoes. Christian Dior even gets a mention. _Poor man poor man, he drives a better car._ Martha hates the rich and it shows. Lots of instrumental going on here, it's heavy on the guitar. A great one to blast in the car. This ties in with _Kix_ , having a similar feel: both despising the perfection of the superficial and yet wanting it just a little. _It sure feels nice, yeah!_

Lastly, but in no way at all least, is _Counting_. This song dates as far back as 1975: a demo recording was released many years later and can be found online. It's much different from the album version, more raw and loud. The album version is soft and sad, very vulnerable in feeling. A close one to my heart because of the lyrics.

It sounds like the narrator has come home from an evening out, which to me is a perfect closing to the album. _Hours away, back in the street, Sally's out with some man she's met._ Perhaps she feels detached from that, all alone by her radio with nothing but the hope that something good will come on. _But it never does._ She's low, almost hopeless. There is a desperation to her words, like a cry for help to the night. _I'm still hopin' that someone could tell me, I sit here prayin' that somebody knows. I keep on wishin' that someone could tell me exactly what I'm gonna do._

She wants to call the protagonist, but won't. Instead, she'll let her loneliness fester inside, let it ache in solitude. We've all been there. _You know Sally, she ain't a bit of fun anymore._ She even feels betrayed, perhaps losing a friend to some nameless man who will only break her heart in the end.

The song's last lines sound like a plead. _I keep on wishin' that someone could tell me exactly what I'm doin' here._ She wants to be anywhere else but where she is, hoping for a chance at a little happiness. Maybe love, too. It aches as the song fades away, almost a full minute of soft instrumental and Martha's barely there vocals, which make for a very nice touch.

The album always leaves me feeling tender and emotional, yet validated. I am not alone, never truly as alone as I feel. The Motels found their niche early on and it carried them through four more albums, though their debut will forever have a special place in my heart. Martha feels very much the same, she has stated it's her favorite collection of songs. I completely understand why. It's beautiful, raw, powerful.

I turn to this album when I feel I have no where else to turn. It comforts me, being so familiar and dear to me. I highly recommend it to anyone who is into early new wave, anyone into female fronted bands, or just anyone looking to broaden their musical horizons. Fantastic record, fantastic band.

Welcome to the Motels.


End file.
